How medicines work 2: Pharmacokinetics

This unit builds upon PHR1021 (How Medicines Work 1) to provide an overview of the processes that affect drug concentrations at target tissues in the body, including drug absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion. These processes are all dependent on the chemical properties of the drug (which are studied in detail in PHR1222; How Medicines Work 4) and impact how much drug is available to interact with pharmacological targets (which is studied in detail in PHR1122; How Medicines Work 3). To address these key areas, you will explore the fundamentals of pharmacokinetics including the concepts of drug clearance and volume of distribution, and how these impact on secondary pharmacokinetic parameters. Together these factors ultimately impact the design and application of safe and effective therapeutic dosage regimens for patients.